MS Project, curiously, assumes a world of infinite resources.  MS Project also has a flawed basic assumption that is based on its preoccupation with scheduling. This notably leads to its narrow definition of “issues” as scheduling problems. Counterpoint: most of the intractable problems result from people and external variables, and there may be a resulting scheduling problem, indeed.

The basic MS Project software does not have an inherent provision for posting updates, and thus makes it tough to redirect tasks. Referring to the main wikipedia entry for project management, time is only one dimension: the other two are scope and resources.

A more subtle but common flaw in the injudicious use of a tool like this, proceeds from a premise that the more comprehensive and highly detailed the initial plan, the better the plan. The more experienced project manager would quickly realize this can lead to enormously complex plans that are impractical to maintain throughout the actual project. There is value to such microanalysis such as in complex interdependencies. In most real life situations, the manager might do well to question the level of detail when perhaps it is best to keep to the deliverables and not micromanage the detailed tasks. Indeed, this is one reason project management has become a separate specialist staffing, away from line managers. Embracing chaos and more realistically managing the planning process’ scope and resource and, yes, scheduling, might be a lesson for project managers themselves.

Different management situations may call for looking at other tools as a complement to MS Project. Here are archetypical examples: “Basecamp” would be adequate for teams emphasizing collaborative delivery of creative materials. “ManagePro” is better suited for strategic alignment of lower level projects, as well as being adaptive to inevitable changes and setbacks in the execution. “MindManager” is, on the surface, a right-brained tool for diagramming relationships that are not necessarily drawn on a single line (i.e., chronologic as GANTT charts are), although the tool now has a project management module as well. Wiki pages are used by agile planners who prefer the widely open collaborative nature of the tool. The shopper would do best to step back and size up their application, and not narrowly bound the solution to one tool.

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This entry was posted Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 11:24 pm and is filed under Project Management. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.